Those who changed fate
by ThePrincessofBlackHearts
Summary: When Harry Potter was sorted he was given the option of going to Slytherin. He denied it and never spoke of it again. But what if he hadn't? What if he wasn't the only one to have been offered that option? Along with those who believed they were chained to a certain future, they go on to change the wizarding world. For good or for bad well, you'll just have to find out...won't you?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Ronald Billius Weasley was not that noticeable and frankly that wasn't surprising considering the family he was in. His family was big; he had six brothers, all older than him and one younger sister so he couldn't even claim the attention of being the youngest. No, he was in the worst position possible and he knew it. He also knew that he didn't have a chance in competing with his siblings. His eldest brother was William 'Bill' Weasley, Bill has been both a prefect and head boy then he went on to be a curse breaker for Gringotts in Egypt. Next came Charles 'Charlie' Weasley, Charlie took a slightly different path to his elder brother instead of being a prefect and head boy Charlie became the seeker and later captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Then he decided to go and train dragons in Romania. Next came Percival 'Percy' Weasley, he was not as outgoing as his elder brothers, but he was immensely intelligent and had just been appointed a prefect and there were already bets going on that he would be head boy as well. After him came the twins Fred and George Weasley, unlike their brothers they had no interest in their studies and had no intention of doing anything 'normal', but this did not mean they were untalented. On the contrary, they were both beaters on the Gryffindor team and were geniuses when it came to pranks, practically reinventing its meaning. Finally, there was his younger sister Ginevra 'Ginny' Weasley, she had not started school yet so it was impossible to test her aptitude for magic but there were already signs of her being an incredibly gifted broomstick flier. And it was obvious their mother had a favourite spot for her daughter, it was a joke that Molly Weasley had just kept trying until she got a girl, so Ron just saw himself as a failed attempt.

Ron on the other hand was nothing like them. He had no obvious talents, he wasn't smart, whilst having an intense love for quidditch but compared to his siblings he just didn't match up. He had tried, he had tried so hard to impress his family, to be equals to his siblings but it was a lost cause. When he realised this he just stopped trying. What was the point? But he still had this immense desire to surpass his siblings, to show he was just as good as them if not better, to break free of the Weasley stereotype of being poor and uncivilised. But this was the way it was and always would be

Hermione Jean Granger was smart. Unnaturally so. She had always been smart, her first word had been orthodontist, she could read just as well as an adult by the time she was three and she only needed to be told a concept once to understand it. Whilst this was good for her and would no doubt aid her in the future in had its downsides. All the adults she had ever met had been astounded and impressed by the gifts she possessed but, as she discovered when she attended nursery for the first time, children did not have the same mindset. They didn't like her. Every time she tried to play, they would say they already had enough people or that they had to go somewhere else or would just look at each other with a knowing look and would burst out laughing.

Honestly Hermione couldn't work out why children her age didn't like her. That had always been her downfall she didn't understand human emotion, it had no steadfast facts it always changed and that unnerved her. Because of this Hermione was a lonely child her best friends were the books she read. And most of the time she was okay with this, the books she read transported her to far off places, told her about new and strange creature and just filled her mind with knowledge. However, she longed for someone to talk to, to laugh and play with. one time she had tried to help a girl named Cassidy with her math homework for some reason she didn't know the square root of 42 but Cassidy had seen it as Hermione mocking her, the next day the entire playground was ignoring her. Hermione has realised long ago that she had this effect on people and tried her best to just not care. This was the way it was, and the way Hermione saw it, the way it always would be.

Harry James Potter lived in a cupboard under the stairs. His relatives hated him simply because he was different, he wasn't sure how he was different, but his relatives liked to remind him on the daily basis that he certainly wasn't normal. An example of this was that he didn't know his own name was Harry until he was four, until then he had genuinely thought his name was freak and boy. Nobody ever understood the extent of how bad his home life was. He was forced to work in the garden either in the sweltering heat of the freezing cold until his finger bled or cook for them what they expected to be a gourmet meal. These were only a few things of what was expected of him, but what the worst thing was, was the consequences if he got something wrong. To start it had been Aunt Petunia hitting him across the hand with a wooden spoon or Uncle Vernon cuffing him over the head. But as he got older it got worse, Uncle Vernon hit him across the back with the buckle of his belt for painting the shed the wrong colour, Aunt Petunia slapped him across the face for burning the steak and sometimes they would just have a bad day and take their anger out on him. Once Uncle Vernon had gotten into an argument with someone at the bank, he came back livid and decided to beat harry until he was covered with bruises. These were only a few examples of how Harry had been abused. And then sometimes, just sometimes the world seemed to feels Harrys emotions and reacted, like when he'd been locked in the cupboard for three days without food or water and his stomach was crying for food, suddenly a plate of food appeared out of nowhere and a glass of water. Harry had been so thankful that he hadn't even questioned how it had appeared however, Uncle Vernon did and there were consequences for doing something 'freaky'. But you'd never guess it, the Dursleys were the perfect example of a happy family home, unless you looked closely. If you did you would see the bruises around his neck in the shape of fingers, the clumsily applied make up on his face to hide red marks and yet more bruises, wouldn't think twice about how Dudley seemed to have the best clothing money could buy but Harry had tatty, worn-out clothing that hung off his body because they were too big for his thin little body. And he was thin, so very thin that it couldn't be natural. But nobody noticed, and nobody asked. Nobody cared. Harry knew from a young age that there was nothing he could do to change the way he was treated, no escape from the hell in which he lived. This was the way it was the way it was, and since nobody was going to come and save him, the way it always would be.

Draco Lucius Malfoy was perfect. How could he not be? He was a talented, intelligent, privileged, good-looking pureblood with all the right connections, assets and wealth. There was no way he couldn't be perfect. It was impossible. In fact, it was expected of him. The moment he entered this world the future if his family would depend on him. He just didn't know it yet.

All families have their secrets, some more than others and the Malfoys had secrets. Dark secrets. Secrets that could never again see the light of day, lest their family reputation be ruined forever. Draco knew this, understood it completely and followed the rules to keep them secret. Another thing about the Malfoys was that they were pureblood, not a drop of muggle, half blood of muggle born blood had entered their family and they were determined to keep it that way. As such, Draco had been taught from a young age that purebloods were superior to all, that muggles were no better than animals, half borns were slightly better but that didn't mean that their blood hadn't been contaminated and muggle borns were a disgrace to the magical world, their blood was dirty, hence the title 'mud blood'.

Draco enjoyed his life, he had everything a young boy could want; more toys that he could play with, loving, doting parents who spoilt him rotten and a promising future. This was the way it was, and since Draco had absolutely no problem with that, the way it always would b

However, fate very rarely goes in the direction we expect it to, just as these four are about to discover. It is futile to try and manipulate someone else's fate to your own advantage as another will find out. And fate will always come through, be it to give those who have sinned their punishment, to free those who have been wronged or to simply teach those who believe those who believe they can play God a lesson, in the end fate always succeeds in her task.


	2. Chapter 1-Receiving Letters

Chapter One-Receiving letters

Harry Potter was fed up. Honestly, he was. He put up with a lot from the Dursleys in fear of what would happen if he didn't, but this time was different. This time he felt this great urge to find out what was in that letter. Over the past couple of weeks someone had been trying to get in contact with Harry, someone his Aunt Petunia seemed to know, and she seemed terrified at the prospect of him finding out. His Uncle Vernon was not scared, no, he was angry. Very, very angry. And after the incident of hundreds upon hundreds of the same letter flooding the living room by flying in through the chimney, Uncle Vernon had snapped.

And because of this Harry and the Dursleys were currently residing in a tiny ramshackle hut on an isolated island surrounded by perilous waves. Uncle Vernon was in a very good mood as he thought that there was no possible way that the letters could reach Harry. And frankly Harry agreed. Dudley and Aunt Petunia on the other hand were not so happy. Aunt Petunia's tendency to want everything to be spick and span as well as having a properly working kitchen was getting to her. But Dudley was the worst, he was in withdrawal from not being near any sort of electricity in over twenty-four hours. He had missed all his favourite TV shows, and he hadn't been allowed to bring any of his game boys or any of his toys. Dudley had thrown such a tantrum that he had literally caused himself to pass out. Harry was not complaining about that.

Harry stared up at the ceiling as he shivered on the freezing floor counting down the minutes until he would turn eleven. Not that it meant anything. Not once in his entire life had he received a proper gift from the Dursleys, the most they'd ever given him was a fifty pence piece. As Harry stared as Dudley's watch and listened to the thunder crashing Harry couldn't help but wonder who wanted to get in touch with him. And if they could help him. There was only a minute to go until he turned eleven, perhaps he could sing the theme song to one of Dudley's favourite shows to give him false hope. Yes, that would be fun. Harry slowly counted down the seconds. three, two, one. And just as the numbers on Dudley's watch changed and Harry turned eleven, there was a deafening boom.

Dudley jolted awake, blinked twice and muttered stupidly,

"where's the cannon?"

There was a clatter and hurried exchanging of words as Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia came barrelling in the room. Uncle Vernon was brandishing a long, thin rifle. It looked very out of place in his large pudgy hands, and even though Harry had no weapon expertise he was pretty sure Uncle Vernon was holding it wrong. Harry rather hoped it would backfire into his uncle's fat face. Uncle Vernon aimed the rifle at the door at shouted in what he probably thought was an intimidating voice,

"Who's there? Name yourself? I warn you I have a weapon and I'm not afraid to use it!"

There was a silence filled pause and then – SMASH!

The door was fell through off its hinges to reveal a giant of a man. He had to duck to get through the doorway and he held such an intimidating presence that Harry could hear all three of the Dursleys gulp.

However, that all changed when he became properly visible. Harry could see into the giant man's eyes which were like black beetles, but they held a genuine kindness that Harry had never seen before. The man cracked his neck, stretching his arms out then plonked himself onto the tatty sofa in the middle of the room. Nobody was about to stop him, not even Dudley who scurried away to cower behind Aunt Petunia who was in turn hiding behind Uncle Vernon. The giant man looked over the room and when his eyes laid onto Harry he broke out into a great grin.

"An' there's 'Arry! Oof, when we last met you were only a little babe. But nobody's gunna deny, yeh look exactly like yer dad, 'cept yeh got ye mum's eyes. Incredible emerald green."

Uncle Vernon, who had been uncharacteristically quiet only spluttering attempts at sentences managed to gather himself and aimed the gun at the giant again. Harry was certain Uncle Vernon was holding it backwards this time.

"I demand that you leave at once Sir! You are breaking and entering!"

"Shut up Dursley, you great walrus." The giant said as he reached behind himself, whipped the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands tied it into a knot as though it were a piece of string and threw it into the corner. Uncle Vernon made yet another funny noise that sounded a little bit like a tortoise stuck on it's shell trying to turn over. The giant turned back to look at Harry and grinned at him.

"Anyway- a very happy birthday to yeh. I got summat for yeh here- I baked and decorated it meself. I mighta sat on it on the way here but I'm sure it'll taste fine."

And with that the giant handed Harry a box, with wide eyes and bated breath Harry carefully opened it. Inside was a slightly squished chocolate cake with the words ' _Happy Birthday Harry'_ scrawled across it in green icing. Harry looked up at the giant, wanting to say thank you but for some reason the words got stuck in his throat. Instead, he said

"not to be rude but who are you?"

The giant laughed, giving out a deep chuckle. He reached out his hand grasping Harry's entire arm and shook it firmly causing Harry to be thrown about like a rag doll.

"tha' is true. Been very rude and haven't introduced meself. The name's Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts"

The giant's chest puffed up with pride as he told Harry his name and title. The giant leant back into the sofa and rubbed his hands.

"well then, wha' about some tea then? But then again, I wouldn't say no to somethin' a tad stronger."

His eyes caught sight of Uncle Vernon pathetic attempt of rations which consisted of a shrivelled packet of crisps. He snorted in disdain. The giant leant over the fireplace covering it with his giant frame so none of them could see what he was doing but the next thing they knew there was a roaring fire which filled the hut with a warmth that covered Harry all over.

The giant man got to work as he sat down on the sofa and brought a whole array of items out from his bag; a copper kettle, a pack of sausages, a poker, a teapot, a couple of chipped china teacups that matched the teapot and a bottle of amber liquid that Harry was fairly sure had a bit more of a kick than tea. There was complete silence as they let the giant get down to work but as soon as he started to cook the first sausage and the smell of sausage filled the hut Harry could see Dudley's mouth begin to water.

"Don't touch a single thing he offers you Dudley."

The giant snorted in derision at Uncle Vernon's statement.

"yer fat pig of a son don't need feedin' anymore, Dursley, no need to worry."

The giant passed the sausages over to Harry, who never really got a good, filling meal but was only given the smallest part of a meal _he_ had cooked. Harry snatched them up and practically inhaled them as if they could be stolen at any second. And knowing Dudley's gluttonous nature they could. Harry let out a sigh of happiness at the wonderful taste, however, he still hadn't taken his eyes off the giant. Tired of the silence and seeing as nobody was going to properly explain things to him Harry said,

"I still don't mean to be rude, but I still don't understand who you are."

"Everyone calls me Hagrid. An' like I told yeh before I'm the keeper of keys at Hogwarts. But you'll know all abou' Hogwart, of course."

"ehh, no."

Hagrid's eyes widened and he looked shocked. Harry realised he'd done something to upset the giant man and immediately apologised.

"I'm sorry!"

"Sorry? Sorry! It ain't yeh who should be sorry, it's them! We knew that yeh weren't getting' yer letters but by Merlin's grey beard! I never thought tha' yeh wouldn't know abou' Hogwarts! Fer cryin' out loud! Didn't yeh ever wonder where yer parents learned it all?"  
"um… all what?"  
"ALL WHAT!?" Hagrid thundered. He turned around to face the Dursleys who were now cowering in a corner of the hut.

"Do you mean ter tell me…tha' this boy- THIS BOY- knows nothin'-about anythin'!" Hagrid growled.

Harry frowned, thinking that Hagrid had gone just a bit too far now. It was fun watching his relatives squirm and tremble in fear but that was a bit much. He had been to school, after all, but he wasn't allowed to get higher marks than Dudley which meant his marks weren't that good.

"I know some things. I can do stuff like maths and all." Harry said indignantly.

"I mean about our world. My world. Yer world. Yer parent's world."

"What world?"

Hagrid looked as though he were about to self-combust into tiny little pieces. He turned slowly around to face Uncle Vernon with a looked of utter fury on his face.

"DURSLEY!" Hagrid boomed causing the roof of the hut to shudder.

Uncle Vernon had turned as white as chalk and muttered something that Harry couldn't quite catch but sounded very similar to "smitchee coochie woochie coo". Hagrid had turned back to Harry as was staring at him with a wild look in his black eyes.

"But come on- yeh must know about yer mum and dad! I mean they're famous! You're famous!"

"I'm not famous. My parents certainly weren't famous. They were a pair of good for nothing layabouts who lived off benefits, were a burden on society, and it was a relief for the entire country when they died." Harry's eyes glazed over slightly as he recited the opinion he had of his parents, which had been hammered into his brain but his aunt and uncle.

Hagrid seemed to be blinking rapidly as he wringed his fingers in stress.

"yeh don't know… yeh don't know…yeh don't know who yeh are?"

Uncle Vernon suddenly managed to find his voice and had quite impressively managed not to soil himself.

"Stop! Stop now! You will not tell him anything! We have not taught and trained this boy to be normal, as well as we could, only for you to storm in here and bring all his freakishness back!"

A smarter and braver man than Vernon Dursley would've bolted from the room because of the raging look Hagrid gave him at that moment. But unfortunately, or not so unfortunately, Uncle Vernon was very stupid and had absolutely no filter which would cause him and his family quite a bit of trouble later.

"Yeh never told him!? Yeh never told him about who he was? What he was? Yeh never gave him the letter that Dumbledore left fer him? I know there was a letter, I was there tha' night when it was left, I WAS THERE DURSLEY! AND YOU'VE KEPT IT FROM HIM ALL THESE YEARS?"

"Kept all what from me?" said Harry, getting more and more excited.

"STOP! YOU CAN'T TELL HIM! YOU CAN'T! I FORBID IT!" Uncle Vernon shouted in both desperation and panic as Aunt Petunia gasped in utter horror at the scene unfolding before her. Hagrid looked as though he were about to direct a certain gesture with his hand towards Uncle Vernon but refrained from doing so once remembering there were children present.

"Ah, go jump in the ocean, the both of yeh." Hagrid took a deep and shaky breath.

"Harry- Yer a wizard."

Harry's eyes widened and his jaw dropped in an unflattering expression. Then, much to everyone in the hut's surprise, he started laughing.

"I'm a wizard? I'm a wizard? That is the single most idiotic thing I have ever heard. And I live with them!"

Harry gestured towards the Dursleys but none of them seemed to register the insult directed at them which only proved Harry's point.

"If I were a wizard how come I have to do everything they say? Can't I just say abracadabra and turn them into frogs? I don't have any special powers, trust me if I did a lot of things would be very different." Harry said bitterly. The last part he said under his breath with them having dark implications.

Hagrid sat Harry down next to him on the sofa, Hagrid taking up most of it and Harry being squashed at the end of it.

"alright. Yeh might think that but tell me Harry, has anything strange ever happened to yeh? Or around yeh? Anything yeh couldn't totally explain?"

Harry looked down at his hands and as much as he'd like to deny it, Hagrid was right. There was something different about him, something 'freaky' as the Dursleys liked to put it. It would explain an awful lot.

"So…I'm a wizard?"

Hagrid sank into the sofa and groaned.

"yeah. And a bloody good one if I were to start making bets. Once yeh get trained up a bit. And with parents like yours, how could yeh not be? An' so frankly, I think it's time yeh got yer Hogwarts letter. Don't yeh?"

Hagrid handed Harry the letter, which was now partially crumpled from being in Hagrid's pocket for so long. Harry took it and turned it over in his hands examining it with intense curiosity. He then carefully, oh so carefully, opened the envelope and took out the letter. And it read as so:

 ** _Dear Mr Potter,_**

 ** _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1_** ** _st_** ** _. We await your owl by no later than July 31_** ** _st_** ** _._**

 ** _Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall._**

Question after question flooded into Harry's head, some more significant than others but when Harry finally managed to find his voice, he asked the crucial question of,

"What do they mean, they await my owl?"

"Gallopin' gorgons! I almost forgot!" Hagrid slapped his forehead with enough force that looked as though it would knock anyone else out cold. He went and rummaged around in one of his many pockets and brought out a plethora of objects, the ones he was looking for being a long quill, a roll of parchment and an actual live owl that seemed as if it wanted to peck Hagrid's eyes out. And frankly Harry couldn't blame them. Being stuck in a tiny pocket for who knows how long could not have been comfortable.

Harry looked over Hagrid's shoulder as the giant scribbled a quick message on the which read as so,

 **Dear Professor Dumbledore,**

 **Given Harry his letter. Taking him to buy his things tomorrow. Weather's horrible, hope you're well.**

 **Hagrid**.

Hagrid finished the letter off and gave it to the owl who shot Hagrid an annoyed look but appeared very happy to be out of the pocket and flying in the air. Then Hagrid dusted off his hands and turned to face Harry again as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. But for Hagrid sending messages by owl was probably normal.

"Now then, where was I?"

However, it was at this moment that Uncle Vernon, who just did not know when to quit, decided it would be a fantastic idea to start arguing with the giant again.

"He's not going." Uncle Vernon said in a 'no one can say otherwise' tone.

Hagrid simply grunted and rolled his eyes.

"I'd like ter see a great muggle like yerself stop him."

"A what?" Harry said, immensely interested.

"A muggle. It's what we in the wizarding world call non-magic people like them. An' it's your bad luck tha' you had to grow in the biggest family of muggles I've ever laid eyes on."

"We swore when we took him in that we'd stamp that freakishness out of him by any means necessary. Pah! A wizard indeed."

Harry's eyes widened in horror as the meaning of those words properly dawned on him. Then his eyes narrowed, and he faced his aunt and uncle.

"Wait, wait, wait. You knew, you knew I was a wizard?!"

"Knew?" Aunt Petunia, who had been uncharacteristically quiet through this entire experience leaving all the communication to Uncle Vernon, suddenly shrieked.

"Of course, we knew you were a wizard! Of course, how could you not be, especially with my sister being the freak of nature that she was? She got her letter exactly like the one in your hands right there and then popped off to that 'school', if it can even be called that. There she learned all about turning cats into cauldrons and how to ride broomsticks, utter nonsense like that. My parents saw her as this genius, a sort of miracle. It was Lily this and Lily that, she was all they could ever talk about, they were happy and proud to have a witch in the family, nothing I did was ever good enough. But I saw her for what she truly was! A complete and utter freak!"

Aunt Petunia gasped for air as her face turned a bright red then continued her enraged rant. It gave out the impression that Aunt Petunia had been holding onto these words for a very long time and was suddenly confessing her opinions in one giant spiel.

"And then she met that stupid, rude and course Potter who was just as freakish as she was, if not more so. They graduated school, got married and then she got pregnant with you! And I knew, I knew that you would be as -abnormal- as they were! And then not soon after that, she and that Potter got themselves blown up and we were landed with you! I never wanted to take care of you!"

Harry had suddenly gone very quiet as his aunt's words sank in. He processed exactly what they meant, his eyes narrowed and his face paled. He managed to regain his voice and whispered,

"What do you mean 'blown up'? You always said that they'd died in a car crash and that I'd unfortunately survived"

Harry stared at his aunt and uncle in utter disbelief at the lie they had fed him his entire life. However, it was not Harry they were trembling in fear of, oh no, it was the enraged giant that stood behind him. Hagrid had leapt up from the sofa, his face red in anger and his whole-body shuddering in outrage.

"CAR CRASH! HOW ON EARTH COULD A DAMN CAR CRASH KILL PEOPLE LIKE LILY AN' JAMES POTTER! EH? EH? It's a scandal! A scandal tha' every child in our world knows his name and story but he doesn't even know it himself!"

"But why? What happened? Tell me!" Harry looked straight into Hagrid's eyes with urgency in his voice.

Hagrid, who had just been exuding anger suddenly changed, his face which had distorted into an expression of hatred and disgust morphed into one of anxiety and nervousness.

"I didna' expect this. I mean, Dumbledore told me that there migh' be trouble getting' hold of yeh, but I didna' know. I had no idea how much yeh didna' know. Merlin's beard. Ah, Harry, I ain't the right person to tell yeh all o' this but someone has to. Yeh can't go ter Hogwarts not knowin'"

Hagrid sat back down on the sofa bringing Harry with him, slightly squishing Harry because of how much space Hagrid took. Hagrid took a down breath as if calming himself down and psyching himself up at the same time.

"Alrigh'. I tell yeh as best I can, as much as I know but I can't tell yeh everythin', it's still a great mystery what happened there…"

Hagrid stared intensely at the roaring fire, his mind seemed to leave the present, reliving events from the past for a moment or two and then started talking again.

"I guess it all begins with this man, if yeh can even call 'im that, named…It's incredible yeh don't know 'is name. Scandalous even. I mean everyone in our world knows 'is name."

"But I obviously don't." Harry pushed forwards, eager to find out who this mysterious man was. And why he seemed to terrify Hagrid so much.

"I don't actually like saying 'is name. I avoid it as much as I can. No one likes saying 'is name."

"Why?"

"Ah, great gulpin' gargoyles. Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is hard to do. There was this wizard…he went… bad, see? Real bad. As bad as you could possibly go. He fell further than anyone had in a very long time. 'is name was…was…"

It looked as though Hagrid was trying to talk, trying to tell Harry what had happened, but the words got stuck in his throat and all he could do was gulp.

"Can't you write it down?" Harry suggested in what he hoped was a comforting tone.

"Nah- don't know how to spell it. Alrigh'- Voldemort." Hagrid whispered the name and shuddered.

"please don't make me say it again. Anyway, around twenty years back this wizard, though he brings shame to the name, went around lookin' fer followers. He got 'em as well. Lots o' 'em. Some were afraid, some wanted a bit o' the power he had. They were dark days, Harry, very dark days. Yeh didn't know who ter trust, yeh didn't dare get friendly with strangers…terrible things happened. He was takin' over. He was everywhere. Some stood up against 'im. So, he killed 'em. One o' the only safe places that were left was Hogwarts. I think the reason was Dumbledore. He's the only person on this earth tha' You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare ter try to take over Hogwarts. Not just then anyway."

Hagrid fiddled his hands, just staring at the fire. Harry had edged closer and closer towards Hagrid, entranced by his story and concept of this dark wizard attempting to take over Britain, and from what he'd heard, it sounded like he had almost succeeded.

"Now then, yer mum an' dad was one of the best wizards and witches that I have ever had the pleasure of meetin'. Head boy and girl back when they were at Hogwarts! One o' the great mysteries is why You-Know-Who never tried ter get them on 'is side sooner. Guess he knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter ever change ter the dark side.

I honestly don't know what he was doing there at yer house that night. No one does. Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em ter change… maybe he decided it was time ter just get 'em out of the way. All anyone knows for certain is that he turned up to the cottage you three were living in on All Hallows Eve, ten years ago. You were only a year old. He came ter yer house an' he…"

Hagrid took another deep gulp of air, trying to calm his nerves. Harry felt his heart beating, a million miles an hour, as he heard about what had truly happened to his parents.

"Give me a second. But it's jus' so sad- I knew yer parents, an' they were some of the nicest people ever. Anyway, You-Know-Who killed 'em. Jus' like tha'. But this is the real mystery of tha' night, he tried ter kill you too. I guess he wanted ter make a clean job of it, leave nothin' left. Or maybe by tha' point he jus' enjoyed killin'. I don't know. But he couldn't do it. Haven't yer ever wondered where yer got tha' scar?"

Hagrid gestured towards Harry's forehead and Harry traced the lighting shaped scar, still able to feel the indentations.

" Tha' is no ordinary cut. No. Tha' is what yeh get when a powerful and evil curse hits yeh. It killed yer mum an' dad, as well as takin' care of yer entire house. But it didn't kill you. An' tha' is why you're famous, Harry. You lived. After killin' so many witches and wizards, some o' the best, the most talented of them. Like the Bones, the McKinnons, the Prewetts. He couldn't kill you, only a mere babe. You lived where so many had died."

Harry's head started to pound, and he kept getting shoots of pain going through his mind. Harry squeezed his eyes shut as he saw the flash of green light that he had seen so many times before in nightmares, clearer than ever before. But then, for the first time in his own living memory, he heard a cold, cruel laugh. Hagrid was just looking at him, nodding sadly.

"Took yer from the house, or what was left of it, meself. And on Dumbledore's orders I had ter bring yeh ter this lot."

"what a load of absolute rubbish." Said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped slightly as he had been so absorbed by Hagrid's story that he had forgotten about the Dursleys entirely. Who wouldn't? But now Uncle Vernon seemed to have regained what could usually be described as courage but in this case, because it was Uncle Vernon, it can only be described as stupidity. He was glaring at Harry, his fists clenched and face beet red.

"You listen here, boy, and you listen good. I'll admit there is something wrong with you. You certainly aren't normal. But it's nothing a good beating won't fix, and you can be sure that I will see to that as soon as we get back. And as for your parents, they were freaks there's no denying it. And meant what I said to you, the world is far better off without them. They asked for what they got, getting mixed up with all those wizarding types. It's just as I expected, I always knew that they'd come to a nasty end-"

At that precise moment Hagrid leapt up from the sofa and brandished a bright pink umbrella from inside his coat. The object itself didn't look all that intimidating, but it was the way he was pointing it at Uncle Vernon like a sword with a look of fury plastered across his face.

"I'm warning you Dursley, one more word…"

In fear of being impaled with a pink umbrella by a magic giant, which was a situation Uncle Vernon had never imagined he would find himself in, Uncle Vernon backed away quickly back into the corner with the rest of the Dursleys.

Hagrid once again sank down into the sofa, breathing heavily, trying to calm himself down and not kill Uncle Vernon. But no one could blame him if he did. Harry, meanwhile, still had hundreds upon hundreds of questions to ask.

"But what happened to Volde- I mean You-Know-You afterwards? I mean he can't have just disappeared if he was really as powerful as you say he was."

"Tha's a very good question Harry. But he did. Disappeared, I mean. Vanished into thin air. Same night tha' he tried ter kill you. Which is what makes yeh even more famous."

"I still don't understand Hagrid. If he was getting so powerful, with so many followers and so much influence, why'd he just disappear?"

"Nobody knows Harry, and frankly I'm not sure I want ter know. Some say that he died. Codswallop in my opinion. I don't think there was enough human left in him for him ter actually die. Some say he's still out there, jus' bidin' his time. But I don't believe that either. People who were his followers came back over to our side, sayin' they were under spells, trances. Some were genuinely forced ter, I don't think they could've come out of those trances if he was comin' back. But others, well I highly doubt that they'd give up the power he gave them so quickly. Nah, they just want ter survive, and they'll do anything to do it."

"But most of us reckon that he is still out there, somewhere. But he's too weak ter come back, tha' he's lost all his powers. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him off Harry. Somethin' happened tha' night that he hadn't expected- I don't know what it was, don't ask, nobody does- but somethin' about you finished him."

Whilst Hagrid was looking at Harry with nothing but warmth and respect, Harry felt nothing but this terrible twisting in his stomach. Instead of the pride and strength you'd expect him to feel, he just felt queasy because he was sure that there had been some sort of horrible mistake. There was no way, absolutely no way that he was a hero.

He was not a wizard. He was not a hero. How could he be? If he was so special, so powerful how come for his entire life he'd been beaten senseless by Uncle Vernon? Bullied by Dudley and his friends? Screamed and shouted at by Aunt Petunia? Thrown in the cupboard under the stairs? And so much more. If he was some sort of wizard, why was he so helpless?

"Hagrid. I said before and I'll say it again, I don't think I'm any sort of a wizard." Harry muttered quietly scared he was going to anger Hagrid. However, much to Harry's surprise, Hagrid chuckled.

"Not any sort of a wizard, hmm? Well, I said it before and I'll say it again, has anything strange happened ter yeh when yeh were scared? Or angry?"

Harry stared into the fire and thought about it once again. Any time he'd felt very strongly about something, something strange had happened. Like when he was running from Dudley and his gang and found himself on top of the roof. Dreading going back to school with the ridiculous haircut Aunt Petunia had given him. And just recently when Dudley had hit him and Harry had asked politely for the snake to eat Dudley, then the glass just magically disappeared with the snake attempting to eat Dudley before heading off to Brazil.

Harry looked up at Hagrid, a small smile appearing on his face as he realised that this could be true, with Hagrid practically beaming back at him. Hagrid chuckled warmly.

"What'd I tell you? Harry James Potter. Not being a wizard. Ha! Unlikely. Jus' you wait and see, you're going ter be right famous at Hogwarts."

But Uncle Vernon still wasn't going to give up despite being threatened multiple times.

"I keep on telling you, he's not going to go to some crazy magic school! No! He's going to go to Stonewall High and he'll thank me for it one day. I've read those letters he was sent and seen what they want him to get. Spell books and cauldrons! It's complete nonsense!" Uncle Vernon hissed and was turning red again.

"Pah! If he wants ter go, there's nothin' a great muggle like you can do ter stop 'im." Hagrid growled back at Uncle Vernon. "Try and stop Lily an' James Potter's son from goin' ter Hogwarts! Impossible! Tha' boy's name's been down since the moment he was born! He's goin' off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry there's ever been. Seven years there an' he'll hardly recognise himself by the time he's finished. And he'll finally be with little'uns like himself fer a change. And he'll be perfectly safe as he'll be under the protection of the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had, maybe even one of the greatest wizards ter ever grace this earth, Albus Dumbled- "

"THERE'S NO WAY THAT I AM GOING TO PAY FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM IDIOTIC MAGIC TRICKS!"

But Uncle Vernon had finally pushed Hagrid way too far, Hagrid seized his umbrella and began to twirl it above his head like a baton.

"NEVER- "Hagrid rumbled " INSULT- ALBUS- DUMBLEDORE- IN- FRONT-OF-ME!"

Remember how I said earlier that Uncle Vernon was incredibly stupid and had no filter which would cause him and his family quite a bit of trouble later? Yeah? Well, this was that moment.

Hagrid brought the umbrella swishing down and pointed it straight at Dudley. There was a bright flash of violet light, a sound that was similar to a firework, a sudden squeal and in the next second Dudley was dancing around the hut like the floor was made of hot iron, his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. Harry craned his neck to try and see what the problem with Dudley's butt was and when Dudley turned his back to them Harry finally got a good view of the complication. There was a curly, pink, pig's tail attached to Dudley's butt.

Uncle Vernon gave out a walrus like roar, grabbed Aunt Petunia and Dudley practically throwing them into the adjoining room. Harry stared Uncle Vernon in the eyes and made the gesture with his hand in front of his nose suggesting a pig nose as well as giving out a quiet 'oink oink', so that only Uncle Vernon could hear him. Uncle Vernon glared at Harry looking as though he wanted to strangle him, but with another quiet 'oink', Uncle Vernon gave one more terrified backwards glance at Harry and Hagrid before quickly following Aunt Petunia and Dudley.

Hagrid fiddled with his pink umbrella and looked at Harry guiltily.

"I shouldn'ta lost me temper, I jus' couldn't let him get away with sayin' somethin' like tha'. Didna' work anyway. I wanted ter turn him into an actual pig, but he looked so much like one already there wasn't meant ter add anyway."

He cast a sideways glance at Harry and stroked his big, bushy beard.

"I'd really appreciate it if yeh didn't tell anyone at Hogwarts about this. I'm technically not allowed ter do any magic. They only allowed me ter use some in order ter be certain tha' I got yer letter to yeh. That's one o' the reason tha' I was so eager ter take the job."

Harry felt a twinge in his stomach as he realised what Hagrid had said. Of course, of course Hagrid wouldn't just want to able to see Harry again after all these years. Of course, there was an ulterior, selfish motive. Hagrid had wanted to be able to use magic again. Harry didn't doubt that Hagrid had genuinely wanted to see Harry, but there was always something else. But something else Hagrid said niggled at Harry's mind.

"Why aren't you allowed to do magic?"  
"ah. Well. I was at Hogwarts meself. Long time ago. But- I was- er- expelled in me third year, ter be honest with yeh. They snapped me wand in half an' everythin'. But Dumbledore was able ter let me stay on as gamekeeper. Fantastic man, Dumbledore."

"But what did you do that was so bad that it got you expelled?"  
"It's gettin' real late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow. We gotta get up ter town and all yer books an' tha'." Hagrid said loudly, quickly changing the subject and jumping up from the sofa.

Hagrid slung off his huge black coat and threw it over to Harry.

"You can take a nap under tha'. Don't mind if it moves a tad, I think I still have a couple of mice in there. But be careful if it bites yeh 'cause I'm not sure what else I got in there."


	3. Chapter 3- It's not a dream

Chapter Two- It's not a dream

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Harry stirred in his sleep, a sense of dread overcoming him as he recognised the tap of Aunt Petunia rapping on his cupboard door telling him to get up and make breakfast.

"Alright, Alright. I'm getting up." Harry said blearily but didn't open his eyes or even make any sort of effort to get up.

'It was a dream; it was all a dream. There's absolutely no way that a giant came to me in the middle of the night and told me that I was a wizard. No way.' Harry thought to himself. But he pulled his blanket tighter around himself not wanting to wake up because it was such a lovely dream.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

However, Harry was more than aware of the consequences of not following Aunt Petunia's instructions and so he reluctantly pushed the blanket off himself, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and then opened them.

But he was not greeted with the sight of his cupboard, instead it was the sight of the hut filled with sunlight and most importantly a giant, the same giant from Harry's dream, snoring quite loudly on the sofa.

There was also an owl hopping around in front of Harry trying to get his attention with a newspaper held in its' beak. Harry's eyes widened and he sprinted towards the window, feeling a huge sense of happiness as more proof appeared that his dream was, in fact, reality.

Harry wrenched the window open the owl immediately flew in and dropped the newspaper onto Hagrid's head, but somehow Hagrid didn't wake up. The owl, looking a bit annoyed at this, went on to peck Hagrid's ear but still the giant man did not stir. Harry could've sworn that the owl rolled its eyes before going on to viciously tearing up Hagrids' trench coat. Harry began to panic and attempted to shoo the bird away from its attack, but it angrily clicked its' beak at Harry and continued its' attack.

"uh, Hagrid? Hagrid, there's a bird trying to- "

"Yer gotta pay 'im"

"what?"

"Yer got ta pay 'im. He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look inside the coat pockets"

Harry frowned a little bit as Hagrid just turned over and continued to sleep. But feeling a little bratty for getting annoyed at Hagrid just because he'd told Harry to pay the owl instead of doing it himself Harry began to search inside the pockets.

Unfortunately, Hagrids' coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets. And inside said pockets were a plethora of abstract objects- bunches of keys, slug pellets, packets of sugar, a small bottle of something named Firewhiskey and finally Harry found a handful of strange looking coins.

Harry tentatively handed the owl one of the bronze ones thinking it looked expensive, but the owl just looked at Harry with a 'are you joking?' expression on the face. Harry, being the incredibly intuitive boy that he is, gathered that one bronze coin wasn't enough and so handed the owl another. It was at this point an expression of pure irritation hit the owls' features and it pecked Harry on the finger.

"OW! Damn bird! How much do you want then? Hagrid, how much does it want?" Harry yelled, attempting to wake Hagrid up.

"Five knuts." Hagrid mumbled.

Harry's nose twitched in annoyance, but he kept his voice even as he asked, "which ones are the knuts?"

"the little bronze ones."

"could've mentioned that earlier before an owl tried to bite the tip of my finger off." Harry whispered under his breath. He took out five bronze coins which he assumed were knuts, emptied them into the pouch attached to the owls' leg. The newspaper owl made an expression which can only be described as an eye roll and flew out of the window, already having wasted far too much time dealing with Harry.

Hagrid slowly got up off the sofa, stretching his arms and rubbing his eyes.

"righ' then Harry, time fer us to be off. We've go' a lot ter do today, we gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer supplies fer Hogwarts."

Harry was fiddling with a knut that he'd subconsciously kept instead of putting it back in Hagrids coat when a sudden and very important thought occurred to him.

"uh, I have a bit of a problem…"

"oh, wha's tha'?"

"I don't have…I mean…I don't have any money to pay for any of this. And there's no way that Uncle Vernon will pay for me to go and learn magic, you heard him last night. I mean it'd be a bit hard not to."

Hagrid looked at Harry in slight disbelief before laughing heartily.

"D'yah really believe tha' yer parents left yer nothing?"  
"but they were unemployed…" Harry automatically said those words that had been conditioned into his mind and that simple phrase set Hagrid off.

"Unemployed? D'yah really believe tha' yer parents were goo' fer nothin' layabouts? No! yer parents were some of the best aurors in the ministry ever. If it weren't fer them I doubt tha' so many innocent people would've been able ter survive death eater attacks. Don't believe fer a second tha' yer parents left yer ter fend fer yerself."

Harry hummed and stroked his chin as he let all the information, he'd been given sink in and what it meant for him next.

"so. The wizards must have some sort of bank then. Yes?"

Hagrid looked surprised at Harrys' question and nodded.

"yeah. Tha's where we're goin' first. Gringotts bank. It's run by goblins."

"goblins?" Harry's eyes widened. Harry managed to keep his emotions hidden, a lifetime of staying with the Dursleys had made him very good at that, but this entire experience was making it a little hard.

"yup. Goblins are tricky beings, never mess with a goblin so yeh'd be mad ter try and rob it. Gringotts is one o' the best places in the world fer keeping summat safe- 'cept maybe fer Hogwarts. Besides I gotta visit Gringotts anyways. Fer Dumbldore on important Hogwarts business." Hagrid lifted his head up and puffed his chest out proudly.

"He normally gets me ter do all the important business fer him. Fetchin' you- gettin' stuff from Gringotts- 'cause he knows he can trust me."

Hagrid gathered all his things and grabbed the pink umbrella before promptly leaving the hut.

"Got everythin'? Come on, then."

Harry jogged after Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was clear and blue now with no indicator that there had been any sort of storm the night before. The boat the Uncle Vernon had hired was somehow still anchored on the shore but had accumulated a lot of water in the bottom as a result of the storm.

Harry scanned the shore for another boat in which Hagrid must have used to get onto the island. But there wasn't any sign of one.

"hey Hagrid, how did you get here?"

"I flew." Said Hagrid nonchalantly.

"flew?"

"yeah. But we'll take this ter get back. I'm not really s'pposed ter use magic now tha' I've got yeh. Shame." Hagrid looked down at the boat sadly, obviously upset about the fact he wouldn't be able to use magic again.

They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to visualise him flying. Hagrid furrowed his brow as if trying to make a very important decision.

"yeh know…it seems an awful shame ter row…" Hagrid gave Harry another of his sideways glances.

"if I were ter..er… speed things up, yeh wouldn't mention it at Hogwarts would yeh?"  
"of course not!" Harry grinned and clasped his hands together, holding his breath waiting to see more magic.

Hagrid whipped out his pink umbrella again, spun it extravagantly above his head before tapping twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off towards land.

Whilst they made their way back to the mainland a part of his previous conversation with Hagrid came back to Harry, and he cleared his throat in order to gain Hagrid's attention.

"So, why would you be crazy to try and steal from Gringotts?"

"Curses, hexes, enchantments. The goblins take their security very seriously. They are merciless and they don't take prisoners."

Harry's eyes widened and he leaned forwards, hanging on to Hagrid's every word.

"Listen closely ter me when I say this Harry, just like I said earlier, never get on the wrong side o' a goblin. Seriously. They say they got dragons down there in the high security vaults. And besides, yeh gotta get in there- the Gringotts vaults itself is hundreds of miles underneath London. Deep, deep underground. But if yeh did get in, yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get yerself out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."

Harry pondered on this rather dark concept whilst Hagrid read the newspaper that had been delivered by the owl called The Daily Prophet.

Harry had learned the very hard way from Uncle Vernon that people generally liked to be left alone whilst they read the newspaper, but this was easier said than done as he had never had so many questions to ask in his entire life.

"O' course. The ministry of magic is ruining everything. As usual." Hagrid muttered to himself.

"there's a ministry of magic?" Harry blurted out, unable to stop himself.

Harry immediately braced himself, anticipating that Hagrid would get angry and violent due to Harry's insolence. However, Hagrid just looked at him and smiled.

"O' course there is. They wanted Dumbledore fer minister ter begin with, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so instead tha' idiot Cornelius Fudge got the job. But he's got no idea wha' he's doing so he bombards Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."

"okay. But what does the ministry do exactly?"

"well, it's main job is ter stop all the muggles from discovering all the witches and wizards aroun' the country."

"why?"

"Why? Blimey Harry, I thought that woulda been obvious! If they knew all about magic, then everyone would be wantin' a magical solution ter all their problems. Nah. We're better off alone." Hagrid shook his head and went back to reading his newspaper.

Harry looked down at his hands and bit his tongue as he thought about Hagrid's comment. The idea of this entire government for magic insisting that they can't let the non-magic community know about magic was strange. To be frank it was selfish.

Harry couldn't pretend that he was completely knowledgeable about the wizarding world but from what he could gather when it came to things such as medicine the magical community was far more advanced than the muddle community, Harry couldn't help but wonder how many lives could be saved if both communities shared their learnings.

It was then that the boat gently bobbed into the harbour wall. Hagrid folded away his newspaper, and they both climbed out of the boat, up the stone steps and onto the street.

As Hagrid and Harry walked down the street passer-by's stared up at him because of how he stood out and frankly Harry couldn't blame them. Hagrid was twice as tall as everyone else and he kept pointing out perfectly normal objects and remarking very loudly,

"see that, Harry? The things these muggles think up?"

"hey… uh…Hagrid…" said Harry, panting slightly as he ran to try and keep up with Hagrid, " did you say that there were dragons at Gringotts?"

"it's just a rumour. But still I wouldn't suggest yeh goin' ter break into Gringotts in case yeh have ter battle a dragon." Hagrid chuckled heartily, stroking his beard.

"Crikey, I'd like a dragon."

"you want a dragon?"

"yup. Wanted one ever since I was a kid- ah! Here we go."

Finally, Harry and Hagrid reached the station which had a train heading to London in around five minutes time. Hagrid who didn't understand muggle currency gave all the money to Harry so that he could buy their tickets.

People staring at Hagrid more than ever on the train, this was probably because he took up two seats and sat there knitting what largely resembled a canary yellow circus tent. Though considering everything he'd encountered over the past couple of days, Harry wouldn't be surprised if it was a circus tent.

"so, is it possible for us to buy all of this stuff in London? Like the cauldrons, magic books and robes?" Harry looked up at Hagrid and then waved the piece of paper with the list of stuff he needed. Hagrid just smiled back at Harry.

"oh yes, if yeh know where ter look." Hagrid tapped the side of his nose and nodded sagely.

To be honest, Harry had never actually been to London before, it wasn't as though the Dursleys were going to bring him along on any of their day trips.

And even though Hagrid appeared to know what direction to head in, it was abundantly clear that he wasn't used to taking the 'normal' route. Examples of this would be when Hagrid got himself stuck in the ticket barrier on the underground or when he started complaining loudly that the seats were too small and that the trains were too slow.

"I don't know how muggles manage to survive without magic." He said as they climbed a broken-down escalator.

Harry's nose twitched in annoyance. He knew Hagrid didn't mean to be insulting towards non-magical people it's just the subtle air of superiority, that their way of living was better, that came off Hagrid was irritating. But Harry knew better than to voice his opinions and bit his tongue.

They passed normal looking book shops, markets, music stores, everything that was part of everyday life. With each step Harry was finding it increasingly difficult to believe that there was a secret magical world underneath the streets of Britain. Could it really be true that there were shops full of wands and cauldrons beneath them? That there was a huge bank full of wizard's gold that was run by goblins and possibly guarded by a dragon? Or, and this was the possibility that scared him, was this some warped scheme cooked up by the Dursleys to torture him? He wouldn't put it past them.

Finally, Hagrid stopped in front a shabby looking house that had a battered looking sign hanging off it which read 'the leaky cauldron'. If Hagrid hadn't stopped and pointed it out to him Harry wouldn't have noticed it and frankly, he had the strange feeling that it was only him and Hagrid that could see the pub.

"This, Harry, is the Leaky Cauldron. It's a righ' famous place."

Harry sweat dropped at Hagrid's comment for multiples reasons. One, because it was obvious what the pub was called thanks to the sign and two, because despite Hagrid's claims that the Leaky Cauldron was a famous place Harry could help but be unimpressed due to it's dilapidated, grubby nature.

But before Harry could ask any questions Hagrid had herded him into the pub, and to match it's grubby outside nature it had strange atmosphere on the inside with a couple of old women downing what Harry assumed was sherry in the corner as well as a man in a bright orange top hat talking enthusiastically to the bartender who reminded Harry strongly of Igor.

Whatever noise that had been going on before Harry and Hagrid came in died down as soon as Hagrid stepped over the threshold.

The bartender flashed a toothy grin towards Hagrid and pulled out a glass proceeding to pour some strange bright blue liquid out.

"the normal, Hagrid?"

Hagrid grinned and reached his hand out quickly to grab the glass but then felt Harry's almost judgemental look upon him. Hagrid coughed, embarrassed and pushed the glass back to the bartender.

"Sorry Tom, but real busy today. On Hogwarts's business, see?" said Hagrid pulling Harry towards him and clapping a large hand onto Harry's shoulder which caused Harry to stumble forward.

"By Merlin's grey beard…" the bartender leaned over the bar and peered curiously at Harry. "is it- could it be? It is!"

Every single person in the Leaky Cauldron had stopped what they were doing and had fallen silent, all of them staring at Harry.  
"Good lord, It's Harry Potter! Harry Potter! What an honour, it is an immense honour Mr Potter!"

The bartender had jumped over the bar, which Harry didn't think would be possible for him considering his physique and was now shaking Harry's hand exuberantly.

Suddenly everyone had run over to Harry and were either shaking his hand so avidly that he was sure his arm was going to be ripped off, hugging him so tightly he began to see black spots and just yammering on about how happy they were to finally meet him.

Harry on the other hand was less than happy to meet all these people, of course he wasn't going to tell them that instead just smile and say, 'it's nice to meet you too sir/ ma'am'.

That lasted for what seemed like hours and Harry was getting increasingly uncomfortable and irritated at the same time, it was taking him all his self-control to not shout at them all. It was then that this sickly, pale looking man in a turban approached him and Hagrid.

"Professor Quirrell! Harry, this is Professor Quirrell 'e'll be one of yer professors at Hogwarts."

Harry looked at this trembling, twitching man straight in the eyes as he started to shake his hand, and something felt wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. It was a sort of sickness in his stomach and that little voice that you get in your head that tells you when you're in danger, yeah that one, was screaming at him to run.

The moment that their hands met a pain shot through Harry's head to his scar and he resisted the intense urge to flinch.

"P-P-Potter. It is a complete honour. I c-can't tell b-begin to tell you how p-p-pleased I am to meet you?"

"What subject do you teach Professor?"

"D-defence against the d-dark arts. B-but it's not like you'll be needing that though, eh P-p-otter?" Quirrell looked as though he was going to keel over at any minute. He laughed nervously and nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"You'll b-be off to get your equipment I assume? I've got to p-p-pick up a new book on vampires myself. It was a p-pleasure to m-meet you P-p-potter, and I'll see you at Hogwarts. N-nice seeing you t-too Hagrid." And with a terrified look on his face Quirrell hurried out of the Leaky Cauldron.

After ten more minutes of strange people running up to Harry and demanding to shake his hand Hagrid decided it was time to leave. Harry was amazingly grateful when it was time for them to leave, Harry felt uncomfortable and anxious around these people he didn't know them and any of them could be out to take advantage of his.

Hagrid grinned at Harry as he led them out of the bar, past the rubbish cans and out into a small, walled courtyard.

"Told yeh, didn't I? I told yeh that yeh were famous. Even Professor Quirrell was shaking ter meet yeh. Then again, he's almos' always shaking." Hagrid chuckled to himself.

"but why is he always shaking?"

"Yer know I'm not entirely sure. He's got an incredible mind, that one. He was fine when he was studyin' books but when he decided to go out into the real world an' get some firs' hand experience…well, they say tha' he met a vampire in the Black Forest and had a tussle with a hag-he's never been the same since. Scared of everythin' now, scared of his own students, scared of his own subject. Now, where's me umbrella?"

Harry handed Hagrid his umbrella as his head was spinning- Hags? Vampires? What was next unicorns and werewolves? Hagrid meanwhile was studying the bricks in the huge wall that they had come across and was counting.

"alrigh' then…two across…three up…" Hagrid muttered to himself. " Stan' back Harry."

Hagrid tapped the wall three times in a specific pattern with the point of his umbrella. Then the brick he tapped last quivered and a small hole appeared in the middle. Once again Harry found himself quite unimpressed, but then the hole got bigger and bigger until it created a cobbled archway that was big enough for even Hagrid to get through without having to duck.

Hagrid looked at Harry and grinned as he gestured with a flourish at the street before them.

"Harry Potter, welcome to Diagon Alley."

 _Hello there to all the lovely readers out there!_

 _First things first, I would like to thank you profusely for reading my fanfic and I hope you enjoy it and continue to read it._

 _I would also like to apologise greatly for the giant delay in the updating of chapters. Seriously. I will try not to let it get that bad again, but I can't make any promises._

 _I really appreciate reviews; it does keep me motivated but please try to be kind I will of course accept constructive criticism but any unwarranted slander will not be tolerated. Please to say if you think the chapters are too long or too short, if they're in big blocks or too spaced out, I'm still working out how to structure my chapters._

 _I also apologise that these chapters may not be the most action packed or have the most going on, I'm trying to work everything out. But bear with me, I promise that it does get more interesting._

 _Once again, I thank you for reading this fanfic. Please follow, favourite and review, all is greatly appreciated._

 _Thanks! ThePrincessofBlackHearts_


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